Pro wrestling may be scripted entertainment, but the WWE's marketing acumen is very, very real.

For three consecutive evenings, Toronto hosted the stars of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the premier organization in professional wrestling. For three consecutive evenings, fans turned out in droves to the Air Canada Centre in support of the biggest stars the company has to offer.

Hopefully the UFC was taking notes, especially given that the Octagon will inhabit the same space as the squared circle in a couple of weeks, and there are lessons to be learned from the tetra-pack of well-attended, well-reviewed shows the WWE delivered on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Although the WWE makes routine stops in Toronto throughout the year for house shows and the occasional televised event, this was the first time in more than a decade that the city played host to a pay-per-view. The organization brought the goods, delivering one of its signature events on Sunday (Survivor Series) and bookending it with a NXT Takeover event on Saturday and Monday Night Raw.

Listen, I’m not advocating that the UFC only venture to Toronto (or any Canadian city) with a pay-per-view once per decade — every four years still sounds right to me — but there is something to be said for building anticipation and coming back with the strongest lineup possible.

Until the UFC ventured to Sweden at the start of 2015, Canada was responsible for the five largest attendance figures in company history and fans in this country are likely to turn out en masse again.

For the right event.

The biggest stars in the WWE universe were in Toronto over the weekend and the combined attendance figures for the three shows illustrate that fans are willing to turn up in force to see stacked events.

WWE star Bobby Roode makes his entrance in this undated handout photo. Roode took on fellow Canadian Tye Dillingerin their in-ring Toronto debuts at NXT TakeOver, the first of three shows World Wrestling Entertainment put on in Toronto over the weekend.HO /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

While WWE benefits from its biggest names taking part in most pay-per-view events and having two weekly TV shows dedicated to furthering storylines, building feuds and showcasing talent, the UFC lays out its events months in advance and has a great deal of control when it comes to setting the initial lineup for each show.

Had a couple of the marquee fights from the UFC 205 undercard or either of the first two championship bouts from the company’s debut at Madison Square Garden a couple weeks ago been originally scheduled for next month’s stop in Toronto, matching or exceeded the Survivor Series attendance from Sunday night (a reported 17,143 fans) would have been a real possibility and the buzz for the UFC’s overdue return to the city would be significantly greater. Instead, UFC 206 felt like another card that was built from spare parts left over from the major events surrounding it, and fans reacted accordingly.

The biggest thing the UFC should pay attention to, however, from the WWE’s stay in Toronto is how wildly successful NXT has become as a property and how hotly anticipated NXT Takeover events are these days.

Several of the top names on the main roster – Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Charlotte, Sasha Banks – are graduates from NXT and were able to hit the ground running when they were finally called up because fans were given a chance to connect with them as they worked their way up to the big show. Additionally, more people turned up for Saturday’s five-bout offering from the WWE’s developmental brand than have attended any UFC show in Canada since UFC 165, the last event held in Toronto.

If they give people a chance to identify with some of the up-and-coming talent on the roster and connect with them beyond just the standard pre-fight hype videos, some of those emerging names could blossom into big, bankable stars in the future. Pair them with the right group of established names and competitive fights and you have a recipe for box-office success.

By and large, Canada is made up of “big event” fans. WWE tapped into that over the weekend in Toronto, rolling into town with a massive collection of shows that produced tremendous returns and satiated its ravenous fans.

It’s time for the UFC to do the same.

E. Spencer Kyte covers MMA for The Province and hosts the Keyboard Kimura Podcast. Follow him on social media (@spencerkyte) and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

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